Member of the Socialist Party and active in the Populist movement. Reporter for the Los Angeles Record, editor of EPIC News, and a commissioner on the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.
U.S. senator from 1943 to 1955 and 38th district California State Assembly member from 1936 to 1942. Head of the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities ("Tenney Committee") and leader of anti-communist investigations.